Hull City Council is working with European cities to look at new measures to avoid a repeat of the summer floods.

The authority is consulting with other flood-prone areas such as Rotterdam, Copenhagen and Hamburg.

David Gibson, assistant chief executive, said Hull could learn a great deal from other low-lying cities.

Hull was among several parts of the UK to suffer when two bouts of severe flooding struck in June and July, affecting thousands of homes.

The move to liaise with European cities follows an independent report undertaken in the flood aftermath to see if future lessons could be learned.

Mr Gibson said: "There's an awful lot to learn about the fact we are a low lying city and we have been involved in a project to look at other related problems in port towns and the impact that climate change has had on them."

He added that multi agencies needed to fully understand the impact the floods had on Hull in order to make improvements - an area that was highlighted in the independent review.

We are comfortable with co-ordinating a solid response, but we can't do it on our own without investment

David Gibson, Hull City Council Assistant Chief Executive

One of the changes is the implementation of an independent drainage board to give a better co-ordinated response to any future threat of flooding - an approach already adopted in the Netherlands.

Mr Gibson said the government had a central part to play in terms of investment.

"We are comfortable with co-ordinating a solid response, but we can't do it on our own without investment, " he said.

"We will be looking to central government to help us fund initiatives and to improve the drainage infrastructure."

But the assistant chief executive admitted the city did not have time on its side.

"It is not going to be another 150 years before something like this happens again," he said.

"The time factor is important. We have to reassure our residents that we have got a co-ordinated multi-agency response."